0ver 40 years ago, Mukesh gave ample proof that ghazal singing suited his voice and style well. One of his earliest film hits was Dil jaltaa hai to jalne de," Dr Safdar Aah's ghazal from the film 'Paheli Nazar'.
   It is well known that Mukesh drew heavily upon the late K L Saigal for inspiration. Saigal was an accomplished ghazal singer himself and Mukesh followed in his footsteps. Ironically, the beginnings of the current ghazal boom were first noticed in 1976, the year Mukesh died of heart attack.
   Between 1944 and 1976, he sang dozens of ghaz-als. In 1973, Mukesh recorded an LP 'Ghazals -Mukesh'. In the words of Jan Nisar Akhtar, "Ash-aar mere yoon to zamaane ke liye hain, kuchh sher fa-qat unko sunane ke liye hain." It was tuned by Khaiyyam, with whom Mukesh was a favourite.
   Khaiyyaam and Mukesh were a team that came up with many an attractive ghazal. And the late Jan Nisar provided the right poetic fibre that was woven into these sonorous delights. From the same LP, we cannot forget 'Zaraa see baat pe har rasm tod aayaa tha, dil-e-tabaah men bhee kya mizaaj paaya tha."
   The inherent charm held right through, with some other examples being "Rahee hain daad talab unkee shoqhiyaan hamse, adaa shanaas bahot hain magar ka-haan hamse" and

 Both were set to music by none other than Naushad. Naushad sahab got Anjum Pilibhiti to write one of them; the other was penned by Majrooh, Sultanpuri. Some lucky readers may be in possession of the 78 rpm (HMV). records on which Majrooh's ghazal takes shape thus, in Mukesh's pathos-ladden voice, "Sunaoon kya main gham apna, zubaan tak laa naheen saktaa; Jo gaanaa chaahtaa hai dil, vohee main gaa na-heen saktaa."
   Yes, occasionally Mukesh did compose tunes. One Zafar poem went: "Na thee haal kee hamen apnee qha-bar, rahe dekhte auro ke aeb-o-hunar-, Padee apnee bur-aiyon parjo nazar, to nigaah men koi bura na rahaa."
   Credit for creative experimentation with classical ghazals goes to Murli Manohar Swarup. He chose two ghazals with identical rhyme and meter; the poets were Ghalib and Daagh. He then got Talat Mahmood to alter-nate Ghalib's 'shers' with Mukesh, who was allotted Daag's ghazal. A pair of couplets illustrates this com-mendable achievement, though it is best heard, not read: "Qafas men mujhse roodad-e-gham kahte na dar hamdam, Giree hai jispe kal bijlee voh mera aashiyaan kyoon hai?" (Ghalib - Talat.)
   "Unhe go ranjish-e-bejaa hai, lekin hai to hamse hee; Mohabbat gar na ho baahaam, shikaayat darmiyan kyoon

"Hamse bhaaga na karo door ghiza-aloh kee tarah, Hamne chaahaa hai tumhe chaahneva-alon kee tarah."
   "Qhizaan ke daur men aese bhee kuchh maqaama aye, Gulon pe vaqt padaa hai to qhaar kaam aaye," goes the matlaa (first couplet) of the Raaz Allahabadi ghazal that is heard on another studio recording of ghazals 'Mukesh - Geet and Ghazal', released in 1968. Comp-osed by the late Murli Manohar Swarup, it has survived the test of time. The same composer moulded Muke-sh's voice to give breath-taking shape to "Aankhon men bas ke dil men samaa ke chale gaye, Qhaabeeda zinda-gi thee, Jagaa kar chale gaye."
   This was master-poet Jigar Moradabadi in his ele-ment. Poetess Sahibzadi Ishratjahan Begum penned "Jahaan bhee dekha unhen sar jhuka diya main ne, yeh kya kiya ke qhudee, ko mita diya main ne." Mukesh breathed life into it, in his usual characteristic vein.
   Producer-director Mehboob Khan got a couple of   Mukesh's songs released for his production company, Mehboob Productions.

hai?" (Daagh - Mukesh.)
   M. M. Swarup opted for an Ameer Khusro ghazal to create a 'duet ghazal', if you can call it that. Sudha Malhotra joined Mukesh in this song, that was written in a language which was probably the precursor of Urdu and Hindi, as we know them today. Though I cannot be sure of the sounds, the words of the opening line from that lyric are reproduced here: "Zeehaale miskeen ma-kun taghaful, churaye naina, banaaye batiyaan:" Another Talat-Mukesh, Daagh-Ghalib ghazal, an all-time great by any standards, goes: Woh na aaye jab shab-e-vaadaa, na aayee mujhko neend; Aarzooen rooh kee sab khwaab-e-pareshaan ho gayeen" (Talat). "Neend uskee hai dimaagh uskaa hai, raaten uskee hain; Teree zulfen jiske bazoo par pareshaan ho gayeen" (Mukesh).
   Besides from the LPs 'Mukesh Geet And Ghazal' and 'Ghazals - Mukesh' which contain tracks not featured in any film, a list of some more ghazals sung by Mukesh has been tabulated for Mukesh fans and ghazal lovers.